Miranda – Our Language Star From London!
Today I had the honour to conduct an interview with our student Miranda from England. As many of us know, she is able to speak almost five languages fluently! The whole story behind her language skills and behind her stay in Russia, I found out through a nice interview with her:
Miranda, thank you very much for taking your time today! First, let me know something about yourself. You live in London and finished school last year, don’t you?
Yes that’s correct. I was born in London, my dad is British but my mother is Italian. Due to the fact that my mother’s job was transferred to Paris, we went to France when I was 4 years old. So I finished primary school there. We stayed in France seven years, so I spoke French better than English when I was a child! We moved back to England when I was 11 years old. So, last summer I finished high school.
Oh I see, that’s very interesting! I think it is simply priceless to grow up multilingual. Most people at Liden & Denz are very astonished by your language skills. You are able to speak almost 5 languages fluently, aren’t you?
Yes, four languages fluently, the fifth one hopefully too in future (laughs). Well, English is my mother tongue, my French is perfect due to the stay in Paris when I lived there with my parents. In high school I learned Spanish, so after my final exam I decided to move to Spain for one year. I lived there in Salamanca, a typical student town with lots of parties (smiles). It was a great time and I improved my Spanish skills to the highest level. Yeah and the fourth language I am able to speak is Italian, thanks to my mother. As I mentioned before, she is Italian and she always spoke Italian with me. Therefore, I am able to speak Italian fluently as well!
Wow, I am really impressed. That’s awesome! And now you’re here in Saint Petersburg for one year. Why did you choose to learn Russian?
Yes. Well, I used to be into dance and sports when I came back to England. I joined a gymnastics class, where all of the other girls were Russians. I literally knew nothing about Russia, but this class changed how I saw this country and its people. I was really impressed how they trained. I have never seen people train so seriously! That fascinated me really, and that’s how the interest started. After some time I left class, but my interest stayed. So I started watching documentaries about Russia and their sports aspects interested me as well. Since then, I was always thinking I need to learn Russian!
I see, that’s a very nice background story for learning Russian. One year is quite a long time. Do you have any plans, except your language course at Liden & Denz?
No, not really. It’s just that once my level got better, I would like to travel through Russia. So my goal is to speak Russian fluently, so I would be happy to reach a B2 level!
Sounds good, you’re a very ambitious girl! Now can you tell me what do you like best about Liden & Denz and St. Petersburg?
Yes, I very like the small classes, because then the focus is more on you. In general, I very appreciate the nice atmosphere and location at Liden & Denz. They also have a very friendly staff, who are always ready to help me. About St. Petersburg, I like the fact that it’s easy to find my way, because of straight line like Nevsky Prospekt (laughs). I also feel like there are lots of things to do, some of them quite cheaply. St. Petersburg is in general simply a great city with pretty monuments!
Thank you for this nice interview, Miranda! It was a pleasure to talk with you. I wish you the best for your future!
This interview was conducted by Jessica Pillinger, student and intern at Liden & Denz
